Royal Enfield looks to enter new markets

File photoDriving in top gear in India, motorcycle company Royal Enfield is looking to grow its presence in select overseas markets where the brand can be positioned in the middle weight motorcycle segment. After Colombia, it is entering Thailand and Indonesia even as it ramps up capacity by 50% every quarter to meet demand in the domestic market.

Siddhartha Lal, MD & CEO, Eicher Motors, said, "The aim is to be a motorcycle brand that is relevant culturally in every overseas market we enter into.We want to be the leader in the middle weight motorcycle market and grow that segment the way we are growing in India."

Thailand and Indonesia, he added, are strong commuter bike markets after China and India. Royal Enfield has just started its first exclusive store in Jakarta and announced its entry into Thailand. Royal Enfield will, simultaneously, target developed markets like North America and Europe where the numbers may be smaller but the branding will be stronger. The company is positioning itself as a middle-weight heritage brand and will go with the same Bullet, Classic, GT and Himalayan brands that it sells in India. "We are the oldest motorcycle brand in continuous production," said Lal.

"We will focus on growing the Royal Enfield brand in a non-extreme way -our products will not be extreme fast or cater to extreme sports but symbolize leisure and adventure."

The company will pursue slightly different strategies while targeting developed and developing markets.

"In developed markets where there is a history of the brand we are following mostly a distributor-led strategy except in North America where we have our own marketing company," said Lal.

"We will market mostly through multi-brand stores and have few Royal Enfield stores as well. In developing markets like Columbia, the company will have its own stores. We are developing the brand now and sales will follow," he added.